"For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light." -Ps. 36:9

Sophia Grace’s Birth Story | Part 2

September 1, 2010

Even though we were so close, we still had to get into the hospital, through ER, and to Labor and Delivery. The journey felt long. I was mentally trying to cope with pain management while staying relaxed. I was trying to trust God with the possibility that we wouldn’t make it to the hospital at all.

But finally, we pulled up to the ER and Josh ran in to get a wheel chair. I had another contraction in the car before getting in the chair. The woman at the check-in area thought we were over-exaggerating when we wheeled up. She said they’d send someone from L&D down to get us soon.

“She’s feeling the urge to push,” Josh told her. “Can’t we just go up? We don’t have time to wait.”

That was enough for her to send us toward the elevators and instantly I was being pushed down the hallway to the elevator. The little old man pushing me said, “I assume they’ll come down the elevator, so we’ll wait here for them.”

I was overcome with another contraction and had to get out of the chair for it. I didn’t care who was there or how clean the hallway floor was but got down in a child’s pose to try to pull the pressure off by working against gravity.

Apparently that got some attention. I vaguely was aware of comments like: “Is she alright?” “Oh, she’s pregnant!” “Do you need a stretcher?”

“Yes, that would be good,” I whispered in between breaths. I wanted a stretcher badly.

I was able to get on the stretcher just as the Labor and Delivery nurses arrived and I was wheeled quickly up to the third floor.

Off the elevators, we raced down the hallway, past the nurses station just as another contraction started. The two nurses pushing me shouted, “We need a room now! She’s about ready to push!” The nurses at the desks jumped up from the middle of their lunch, and shouted back, “Room Five!” while running to assist.

“What’s your name, who’s your doctor?” was about all the info they got out of me before I had another contraction.

I was moved from the stretcher to a bed. I was desperate to give all my focus to managing the contractions. For me, it’s almost entirely mental, and to be going from a car, through a hallway, onto a stretcher while essentially going through transition and into the pushing stage was totally distracting me from what I needed to be focusing on.

Josh said I seemed to be doing really well, but I know by the time we got to the room I felt like I was mentally loosing my grip. The nurses flew into action and had me prepped for labor in the minutes between one contraction and the next.

“She’s crowning!” was the first comment the nurse said when she examined me. “You’re almost done!”

“Really?” I was said. I wanted to make sure she wasn’t just saying that, even though I knew it had to be true from what I was feeling. It just felt so wonderful for someone to reassure me I truly was almost there!

I’d read and been told that when you feel like the contractions have become unbearable, you’re at the final stage and it won’t get worse. I’d say that was true for me. I felt like I could no longer cope but at the same time I was able to start pushing and I knew Sophia was almost here! The nurses reminded me to breathe and I felt the baby crown. A few more pushes and her head was out! I took a break to gather strength for the final pushes to get her shoulders out.

Suddenly, it was all over. It was 1:39 p.m. We’d been at the hospital for about 10 minutes, had four contractions, and then Sophia Grace was pushed out into the world!

“It’s a girl!” they said and I felt them put a crying squirming baby to my chest. I lay there slightly disoriented and glimpsed at her through tired eyes. I felt such physical relief that I had to take a few minutes to adjust myself to focus on the little baby in my arms. But when I did, she was perfectly pink and beautiful and strong. Moments later, my doctor arrived and exclaimed, “What, you didn’t even want to wait for me?”

Sophia Grace means wisdom and grace. I’m thankful for all the grace we experienced in getting safely to the hospital and having a healthy girl put into my arms. I don’t take that for granted. We’re so excited to welcome this little girl into our family!

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. –Proverbs 31:25-26

(In the picture above, Sophia is wearing a hat that I wore as a baby. It was made out of a handkerchief by one of my mom’s best friends.)

I love her name and what it means. I absolutely love that verse and have prayed that it would be said of me by GOd’s amazing grace by the time He decides to take me home.

Your labor story sounds movie worthy. Seriously. It’s so how they portray it often in the movies even though it really is a unique situation. So glad she arrived healthy and strong and that you are well, too.

I’m sure in years to come you will be so glad to have captured the details here in these posts.
Still looking forward to meeting her in person. Hope it won’t be long. We might just have to spring in on you one day. (I’ll call before I come). 😉

Thank you for sharing your amazing story! I cannot imagine having to deal with just trying to make it to the delivery room while you’re going through that. I only made it through about 7-8 hours of active labor before I got my epidural, and I wasn’t anywhere near transition. And even then it seems unbelievable to not have anywhere to rest while you’re focusing. I’m so glad the Lord protected you and little Sophia and brought her into the world safely. She is truly beautiful.

You had me on pins and needles after the first post! I knew she came quickly, but I didn’t know it was that fast! You didn’t say much about the pain of delivery with going natural vs. epi with the twins. (not that you had a choice in the matter, anyway!). I’m interested in the “ring of fire” thing people talk about when the pushing happens. That “ring of fire” is why I’ve never tried natural. Sounds so horrific. Anyway, so glad she’s here and everyone is happy and healthy!

Beth, although the “ring of fire” isn’t comfortable, it’s signals the end, so in many ways it was welcome! Like Marie, I think the contractions right at the end were worse. But this labor was very different for more reasons than epidural vs. natural. A major difference was my water broke in the beginning, vs. last time it was broken right at the end. The water “cushions” the contractions, which is one reason this time it was more intense vs. last time for me.

Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful. Welcome to the world Sophia Grace and congratulations Danielle! She is a beauty. I told my husband your story and he asked “Doesn’t that encourage you?” (as far as how quickly she came into the world 🙂

Definitely praying that will be the case for us 🙂 Thank you for sharing!

Welcome Sophia! I just read your two delivery posts and oh me oh my, that was a smokin’ labor and delivery! She sure wanted to catch a glimpse of you in a hurry! And boy is she a sweetie — congratulations to you all!